broschuere ee zahlen en bf

Development of world population and global primary energy consumption
3.8
1971
4.4
5.3
6.1
6.5
191
Primary energy consumption
2008 [gJ/per capital]
77 World
WORLD: gLOBAL USE OF RENEWABLE ENERgIES
67 India 57
6.7
OECD China 23 Rest of
World
514
478
1980 1990 2000 2005 2008 1971 1980 1990 2000 2005 2008
World population [bn.]
Primary energy consumption calculated by the physical energy content method
Source: IEA [117]
Rest of World
India
China
OECD
232
303
367
420
global primary energy consumption [EJ]
The great importance of renewable energy sources for sustainable development is generally
acknowledged. At national level a variety of instruments are used today to promote the development
of renewable energy sources (see also pages 38 – 45 and 80 – 81). In terms of absolute
figures, approx. 65,600 PJ of renewable primary energy was supplied in 2008 (2007: approx.
62,500 PJ). On average, renewables have grown by 1.9 % per annum since 1990. Despite
this, the renewables share of global primary energy consumption has remained steady between
12 and 13 % since the eighties (2008: 12.8 %). In other words: The growth in energy
supplies from renewable sources has barely succeeded in offsetting the increase in total primary
energy consumption.
Nearly a fifth of the world’s population (OECD) continues to be responsible for almost half the
world’s primary energy consumption. This is also clear from per capita consumption, which
at 191 GJ in the industrialised countries (OECD) is two and a half times the global average
(77 GJ per head). In China and India, the most populous countries, per capita energy requirements
are actually as little as 67 and 23 GJ respectively. But energy needs in the developing
and newly industrialising countries are growing.
Against this background there is a clear need not only to improve the efficiency of energy
use, but also to step up the pace of development of renewable energies to meet the challenges
for global energy supplies and especially for climate change mitigation. This applies
above all to wind, solar and marine energy, but also to geothermal energy technologies and
to modern methods of biomass utilisation. The main classic uses to date – heat from firewood
and wood charcoal (traditional biomass use) and electricity generation from hydropower –
are increasingly reaching their limits and in some cases cannot be classified as sustainable
use of renewable energy sources (cf. pages 88 – 89).
Renewable Energy Sources in Figures 83